ECape university to break even: Nzimande

Eastern Cape / 25 March 2014, 5:36pm

SAPA

300114. In Pretoria. The Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Blade Nzimande address the media on the 2014 Registrations and Funding of Academically Deserving Students from Poor and Working Class Households. 424
Picture: Dumisani Sibeko.

Johannesburg - The Walter Sisulu University (WSU) in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape had a break-even budget for 2014, Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande said on Tuesday at a summit on the future of the university.

“While WSU has not yet reached a state of healthy financial sustainability, clearly a great deal of effort has gone into clearing the backlogs and overdrafts,” Nzimande said.

Government intervention was partially responsible for the improvement at the institution, as a new statute was gazetted in January this year, said Nzimande.

“This has made it possible for us to commence with the implementation of a more appropriate divisional governance and management model for a university of this unique kind.”

This followed the appointment of Professor Lourens van Staden as the Administrator of the university in November 2011, after a report from the Independent Assessor indicated that the institution was in crisis.

“The Independent Assessor... indicated that WSU was an institution in crisis with the all-encompassing collapse of systems, governance and financial management,” said Nzimande.

The new council, which was being consulted for the extended six-month period of the Administrator, had been responsible for several positions which had already been filled.

He said the administrator had made progress in eight “Turnaround Projects” at the university.